Looking Back
by maddie216
Summary: Ever wondered why House is the way he is? It has to do with a certain girl a few years ago. What will happen when House bumps into her again, all these years later? Note: Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my first ever fanfic story. It's basically an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while now, and I thought I'd better hurry up and put it to paper or it's going to drive me mad! So here's the first chapter – Enjoy! And Review!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own House *wipes away a tear*, but I wish I did. **

Gregory House stared out of the window of the black BMW speeding gracefully down the highway, watching the trees gradually grow thinner as they began to enter the small civilisation that was New Jersey Airport. How he detested airports. He detested his new patient even more for sending him there. Eric Foreman sat in the Driver's seat, manoeuvring the close, winding roads towards the terminal, all the while firing suggestions back at Cameron and Chase in the back seat. House wanted to smash his palm against the window. He had been stuck in this car for almost half an hour with his team, forced to listen to their completely off the mark suggestions about why their patient was not getting any better.

"I told you, it's Cancer!" Chase practically shouted, as Cameron explained again about how the patients muscle tissue continued to spasm despite repeated treatments to stop it.

"For God's sake, It's not Cancer." House fired back, sighing as he realised his argument was pointless. Cancer was the whole reason they were here, travelling to the patients home to see what other diseases the guy could have that would show the same symptoms as he was. Chase had been adamant it was Cancer from the beginning, and had almost resorted to throwing a tantrum when he realised House was nowhere near starting chemotherapy on the patient.

"But Cancer explains everything! The muscle spasms, the..." House tuned out as Chase began to list the huge array of symptoms their patient was exhibiting. Yes, Cancer fitted the bill perfectly. But something inside House knew that wasn't it. It was too simple. Foreman began to take place in the argument, trying to convince Chase that the patient's symptoms were also symptoms of a rare neurotic disease.

"Why couldn't you guys pass the time playing 'I spy'?" House asked, as he leaned further into the door of the car, letting the childish bickering fade into senseless background noise. Usually he loved arguments like this, an example to show his team how predictably textbook they were in all of their diagnoses. But not in a space as confined as this. If he eventually grew tired of the debate, he couldn't simply walk out of his office and into a corridor free of diagnosticians. He would still be stuck in this car, counting the seconds until Foreman parked it in the terminal. Which, he now noticed, was only a few roundabouts away. He stared out of the window at a plane in the distance, its large white nose dipping lower and lower in the sky until it was almost touching the tarmac. He wondered briefly where the flight had come from before realising the car was slowing and pulling into the terminal. House grabbed his cane leaning against his seat, and gradually pushed himself out of the low seat. He looked over to his team, who were at the back of the car delegating luggage. Chase pulled out a medium-sized leather suitcase and looked at House. Now that they were out of the car, House could be as big of an ass as he wanted and get away with it. He looked at Chase, and pulled his "I'm a cripple" face. Chase sighed and turned back to the others.

As Chase and Foreman argued about who had to carry his luggage, House began to wander casually through the large glass doors into a giant foyer with tens of different check-in counters. He heard three people enter just behind him, and turned to see his team walking up to him, Cameron rolling his suitcase along behind her. House almost could have smiled. Of course she would have been the one to break up the fight between the men by solving the problem herself. She reminded him of someone else. Someone else he had to stop himself from thinking about, especially at airports.

"We're with American Airlines" She said, pointing towards the largest counter in the centre of the foyer. House grabbed his passport out of his pocket and limped towards the counter, pulling the tickets out of Foreman's hand as he passed. The sooner he was on the plane the better, away from the tedious formalities of check-in gates and airport security.

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Melissa Nicholls sat quietly on her swivel chair in the main boardroom at LAX airport. Tapping her pen against her notes, she gazed out of the large window facing the tarmac. A plane was taking off, undoubtedly going somewhere new and exotic. Melissa hadn't taken a holiday in over five years. Strangely, the thought was almost comforting to her.

She looked back at the projected screen, and began nodding – as were the rest of her colleagues. There was a large pie chart indicating specialised hangar prices for their most lucrative clients. British Airways, Air France, Spain Air. She felt a sharp pang of homesickness as she read her own country's airway written in bold capitals – QANTAS. She hadn't been home in over seven years. This thought, however, was far from comforting.

A few people around her began to clap, and the speaker started closing his presentation. As everyone began to pack up and file out of the boardroom, Melissa looked back out at the tarmac. More planes landing, others taking off. She noticed a QANTAS flight landing. _Probably from Sydney. _Melissa quickly turned away from the window, closed her laptop, and walked out of the boardroom. She had to stop herself from thinking about Sydney. And the people she'd met there.

**Like it? Not like it? Let me know! Maybe as an incentive I might send a sneak peek of the next chapter to the first reviewer. Or first five reviewers. But that just sounds greedy. Anyway, just review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So it's like 10:30pm at night and I have a biol exam tomorrow but I had to finish this! Read and Review – don't be shy....:D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own House – A very lucky man called David Shore does. I envy him.**

Los Angeles. They city brought back memories House didn't want to think about. He looked out of the plane window, staring down on the city that he had once called home so many years ago. The feeling, this feeling, was strangely familiar to him - looking down on a city that he was nervous to land in. Thirty years ago, he had done it for the first time. As he stared down on the golden shores and aqua water, he began to reminisce of a time when he had also stared down at a beautiful beach from a plane, although on a completely different continent.

_A twenty year-old House looked with curiosity out of the small plane window onto an enormous beach littered with tourists and locals. _Bondi beach_, the brochure said it was called. The sun beat down on the sand as waves rushed onto the shore. The captain announced that it was forty-three degrees Celsius today. House knew enough rough conversion to figure that was pretty hot. Probably one hundred and ten Fahrenheit. No wonder there were so many people at the beach, he thought._

_The plane continued over the populous city, down a strip of pure white beach and finally began its descent into Sydney International Airport._

_As the plane finally bumped onto the pavement and skidded down the tarmac, House felt a sense of unfamiliar nervousness. Here he was in a new city, where the only people he had even met before were his new university professors, and where he had no idea what the norms of behaviour were. House was truly out of his element, and he wasn't sure that he liked it. _

_The plane began to spin around and fit itself into the corridor of the gate. House grabbed his carry-on, and walked slowly down the aisle of the plane. As he walked through the corridor of smiling air hostesses wishing them a pleasant stay, he felt himself begin to smile as well. He wasn't so lost, he thought. He had a car waiting for him, to take him straight to his new dorm at the university. He had everything set up perfectly. And so what if he got a little lost? It wouldn't be fun if he knew his way around the whole time. _

_He stepped out of the gate, and followed the signs that said 'baggage claim'. As he waited for his suitcases to come around the conveyor belt, House began to feel almost energised. This was going to be fun. He could feel it. Two years in a new city. An enormous new city. House had always loved to explore, but this was different. Here, he had no limits. He was free. No parents or annoying 'friends' to worry about. Here, he cold truly be himself. As he watched his bags slowly move towards him on the belt, he felt energised. After he picked those bags up, he would walk out of this airport, and into a new city, a free man. _

"House?"

House awoke with a start. Cameron was leaning towards him, her cleavage accidentally pushing up on the armrest. He let his eyes linger there for a second, then looked away out of respect. She looked down and immediately sat back up straight, blushing. House looked straight ahead, not game to say anything.

"We're almost landing." She finished, as she shuffled back into her own seat. House sat up straighter in his own chair, and looked out the window. A shadow flew over the glass for a brief second, and he saw the reflection of Chase staring at him. House turned to look at him, but the heady young doctor appeared to be consumed in an airline magazine. Coward. Everyone knew he was completely hung up on Cameron. He just wasn't confident enough to stand up to other men looking at her cleavage.

The plane was almost at the pavement. House braced himself in his seat, and felt the rushing in his ears as the plane skidded to the end of the LAX tarmac. Twenty-five years ago he had landed on this very tarmac. Only with very different company.

**Yes? No? R&R so I can know! Next chapter coming soon...for those who review. Lol. **


	3. Chapter 3

**So a BIG thank you to my first ever reviewer – momsboys. You have no idea how much I appreciate you taking the time to review...it really means a lot. :D:D**

**So here's the next chapter – Enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own House. But I really, really, really wish I did. **

Melissa sat in her office, kicking her legs under the large mahogany desk. She couldn't think properly. Why, she didn't know. Every time she tried to focus on a particular thing, her mind would wander. And not to other important things, either. She sighed. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon. Too late to feign sickness and go home. As she looked around the room, trying to find something even slightly productive to try and do, her assistant buzzed through on the intercom. Whispering Thank you to no-one in particular, Melissa waited three seconds, picked up the phone, and answered "Yes, Jack?" in the most busy voice she could fathom.

"Ms. Nicholls, I've just been told by ground that the Secretary of Defense' jet has landed."

Melissa cursed and quickly stood. She had forgotten that was today. However, It was certainly a welcome distraction. She walked from her office, Jack following like a little puppy.

She hoped to God organising the Secretary's travel schedule would take up the rest of her day.

* * *

House limped slowly up the corridor from the plane to the airport gate. He could tell his team was walking slowly as well, not wanting to appear faster or stronger than their crippled boss. It irked him. It was like they were afraid to acknowledge they could walk faster, for fear of retribution.

As they walked out into the gate, the general smell of airport terminals greeted him. The smell of cleaning disinfectant and tourists. House looked at Cameron, not wanting to ask where to go. She took his hint and began to walk quickly down a long, wide corridor to their right.

As House and the rest of his team followed, he noticed a young woman saying good-bye to an older man – probably her father. They were both overly emotional, crying and hugging like the world was ending. House had never understood how people could do that. Cry in a public area in front of random strangers, then turn around and act like it was completely justified. He shook his head and continued after Cameron down an elevator.

They had a bag waiting for them in baggage claim, a suitcase full of equipment needed to properly examine the patients home. House stopped a far distance away of the rotating conveyor belts, and waited, swinging his cane out of boredom. As he looked over the crowd of heads clustered around the baggage claim area, he saw a bright blonde head moving quickly behind the crowd. Tall woman, he thought. He gradually began to see more of her body as she moved from behind the tight crowds towards the sparsely populated VIP area, straight behind where House was standing. As she moved from behind the last person blocking his view, House felt a sharp intake of breath enter his body as he recognised the soft blonde hair, hazel blue eyes, the tall, slim physique. Everything. Her beauty was astounding. The same thoughts had ran through House' head the first time he had laid eyes on her, thirty years ago.

"_So, pretty much, that's all there is to it. You've already got a map, I'm guessing?" Harry asked._

_A twenty-year old Gregory House nodded, feeling almost...well, excited. _

_The guy who was showing him around had introduced himself as Harry, an undergraduate in veterinary science. He was in one of Greg's Biology classes, and had volunteered to show him around campus. He was extremely tan, with a kind of 'surfy' look about him. Greg guessed he spent a lot of time at the beach. _

"_So nephrology, huh? That's, uh...kidneys, right?" Harry's voice cut through Greg's reverie, surprising him._

_Greg nodded, and laughed. "Yeah, Kidneys." One blanket word for the enormous world that was his science. Although, Greg guessed it was justified. After all, Kidneys were the entire basis for nephrology. Why not nickname the science after what it was based on? _

"_You hungry?" Harry asked._

_Surprisingly, Greg was starved. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that Harry had mentioned it, he felt ravenous._

"_There's a cafe just across this terrace, it's pretty good." _

_Greg nodded his approval, and followed Harry across a large lush green terrace. A large eating area came into view, with umbrellas and tables set out around a small cafe. Students littered the lawn surrounding the area, and took up the tables and chairs. As Greg got closer to the cafe, he noticed a group of girls standing around a table, laughing and talking. _

_It was then that Greg saw her._

_He wouldn't say she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen – he didn't believe in clichés like that. But she was something else. She had long blonde hair that flowed perfectly over her shoulders, shoulders that were held back in perfect posture. Confidence, Greg noted. She was like nothing he had ever seen before._

_Just then, she smiled. Her eyes lit up, the blue irises beaming even brighter than before. She shook her head back, laughing. House watched as her perfect hair was thrown backwards, and settled halfway down her back. As she moved closer to her friend, talking, Greg noticed her long, toned legs underneath her shorts. The muscles seemed almost athletic. Who knew, maybe she was an athlete. But Greg knew he had to find out. Whoever this girl was, Greg knew she was important._

**So...I know I left a bit of a cliff-hanger but that's because I want reviews! The more reviews I get the faster I'll write. XD.**


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